Yreka NAPA holds grand opening event

Monday

Mar 20, 2017 at 9:37 AM

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at NAPA Auto Parts’ Yreka location on Friday.

Danielle Jester djester@siskiyoudaily.com

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at NAPA Auto Parts’ Yreka location on Friday. The store opened on Sept. 12, 2016, and is owned by Jeff and Danielle Story, who reside in Merrill, Oregon – about a 10 minute drive from Tulelake.

Jeff – a Merrill native – has worked for NAPA since 1998, when he was still in high school. After moving up the ladder within the company, Jeff was recruited to open a store. Danielle, who began working for the auto parts company in 2014, joined him in the venture.

NAPA’s website gives a brief history of the company, reading, “In 1925, a group of independent auto parts sellers met in Detroit to form the National Automotive Parts Association. Their mission was simple: improve the distribution of auto parts to serve the people and businesses who increasingly relied on cars and trucks for their transportation needs.”

The first NAPA location opened in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1936, the website notes, and “NAPA now includes over 58 distribution centers, 16,000 NAPA AutoCare Centers and more than 6,000 independently-owned and company-owned stores. NAPA carries an extensive inventory of more than 475,000 parts for automotive and industrial applications.”

Friday’s ribbon cutting was a serious to-do, as are all of Napa’s grand openings, according to Jeff. A two-level semi truck brought a plethora of parts to the parking lot of Yreka’s NAPA store, as well as a funny car which had been altered to have a flat screen television inside, which showed the car being driven on a track in Sonoma, California, when the “driver” pressed the gas pedal.

Jeff related that making arrangements for the event “involved lots of emails, lots of phone calls.”

A five person NAPA sales team from Portland, Oregon came down for the occasion.

It is his store’s “people and environment” that sets Yreka’s NAPA apart from other auto parts chains, Jeff said. Of his staff, he added, “We’re a happy, friendly little bunch.”

The Storys are glad to be running a NAPA store with a “small town, local feel.” Jeff emphasized, “We like people to feel good when they come to our store.”

Yreka’s NAPA Auto Parts is open Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store will soon be open on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.